Under pressure from environmental groups, the Tanzanian government seemed to have backed down, at least for now, from endorsing a proposed soda ash factory near Lake Natron in Arusha that could have threaten the survival of lesser flamingos.

Following a meeting last week between the Tanzanian ministry of environment, National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) and 14 environmental conservation groups, it has been reported that the soda ash project has been thrown out pending further environmental studies by the developer, Lake Natron Resources.

Lake Natron Resources, a joint venture between National Development Corporation (NDC) and Tata Chemicals, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Tata Group, was planning a $400 USD investment to extract 500,000 tons of soda ash from the lake every year. Soda ash, or sodium carbonate, is an important ingredient in the making of glass, detergent, textile processing, metal refining, cosmetics, paper pulp and other industrial goods. On their corporate website, Tata Chemicals claims that they are recognized as “one of the most energy efficient and environmentally responsible companies in India.”

The decision to stop this project on its track and reevaluate its environmental concerns is a crucial victory to all those who would like to see sustainability issues take center stage in investment decision making process.

What are your thoughts? Are you happy with the decision to stop this project or would you like it to proceed? Do you think the economic benefits of the project are more important that the environmental concerns?

The chairman of Tanzania Mines and Construction Workers Union (TAMICO), Mr Mbaraka Igangula, was quoted over the weekend saying that wage disparity between foreign and local workers was one of the key reasons for the worker strike at Barrick Gold’s Bulyankulu gold mine. He said the weeklong strike will continue until workers’ grievances on pay, health and risk allowances are met.

… a foreign worker earned 24 million Tanzania shillings ($20,820) a month, while a local worker took home a minimum wage of 200,000 shillings [$180]. A Tanzanian professional worker received $4,000 a month, he said. Foreign workers also received a bonus of 20 percent of their salaries, which is denied to local workers, Igangula added…local workers did not receive any risk allowance for exposure to hazards while working in the mine.

News of the strike come as a surprise considering how Barrick Gold Tanzania and the Tanzanian Government have always touted job creation and social responsibility work by mining companies as some of the key benefits the country is enjoying from the growing mining sector. To the extent that over one third of workers at Bulyankulu are unsatisfied with their working conditions gives credence to the growing public outcry that a “win-win” situation is yet to exist between mining investors and the country. The great disparity in wages indicated above revives the question of whether Tanzanian workers are being treated fairly by major foreign companies in the country.

The strike also raises the question of whether our labour laws, mining laws and mining contracts sufficiently protect local workers in foreign corporations and whether the Ministry of Labour is sufficiently empowered to ensure fair compensation scales and standards, if available, are being enforced by the private sector. However, the recent introduction of minimum wage rates for various private sector areas is a step in the right direction. The question of enforcement of these minimum wages still remains unanswered, and this has allowed many private businessness to ignore the new Government directive.

What are your thoughts on the Bulyankulu strike and the new private sector minimum wage rates? Do you think the strike is fair? Or would do you agree with Barrick that current wages are competitive enough to local workers?